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J. 0. S. ELMORE. APPARATUS FOR REPINING METALS BY BLBGTROLYSIS.

No. 589,252. Patented Aug. 31,1897.

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.IoIIN OLIVER sunrnns ELMORE, or IIAPURTIIALA, INDIA.

APPARATUS FOR REFlNlNG-IVIETALS BY ELECTROLYSIS.

SPECIFICATION forming partici` Letters Patent No. 589,252, dated August 31, 1897.

' Application tiled August 17, 1896.' Serial Nol 63,0l4. (No model.)

To all wiz/0712, t 12m/y con/cern;

Be it known that I, JOHN OLIVER SURTnEs ELMORE, a citizen of England, residing at Kapurthala, Punj aub, in the Empire of India, have invented a certain newv and useful Improved Apparatus for Refining Metals by Electrolysis, of which the following is a speci- Iication.

My invention relates to theV refining of metals by electrolysis, so conducted by the aid of suitable a-pparatus as to el'ect very rapidly the solution of the crude metal and the deposit of the pure metal. I shall describe, with reference to the accompanying drawings, apparatus for this purpose'specially adapted for refining copper.

Figure l is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section.

T is a closed tank made of non-,conducting material, preferably wood, or it might be of other material, lined, if necessary, with nonconducting material. In this tank I place a number of wooden c'ross-t'rames,each of which may be made in two parts Fand E', with wooden distance pieces D between them. Each of the frames is rabbeted, so that the two when put together present an internal groove in which is held a plate or slab E ofthe crude copper. Each of the double frames EF has an aperture O of considerable area through it, and the frames are so placedythat these apertures are alternately in the upper and lower parts of the tank. On the ends of the tank are fixed slabs or plates of copper, the one, A, constituting an anode connected to the -lterminal of a dynamo-machine or other source of electricity, the other, C, constituting a cathode connectedrto the terminal. Electrolyte liquid is pumped in large quantities into the tank by a pipe P, entering at the one end and, after takinga zigzag course through the alternating apertures O and between the slabs E, issues from the other end, to flow back by a return-pipe Q to the pump, to circulate again through the tank. Y

In order to prevent short-circuitin g through the fluid current, I provide a rocking trough R with a transverse partition r, this trough being mounted on a horizontal axis within a receiving-tank S, from which thel liquid is drawn to be circulated again. The liquid is discharged into one side of the trough until that side overbalances the other, causingthe trough to cant over, discharging its contents, and then receiving Vliquid onits other side.

By the action of the electrical current copper is dissolved off the one face of each of the slabs E and is deposited in a pure 'state on the face of the next slab, most of the impurities being carried away by the rapid current of electrolyte liquid, which may from time to time beY filtered, or a portion of which may be continually led through a filter by a by-pass from the return-pipe. l

Although I have described the apparatus as being applied to the refining of copper, 0bviously the plates or slabs E might be of other metal capable of being similarly treated.

Having thusdescribed thevnature of this invention vand the best means I know of carryin g the same into practical effect, I claim- The combination Vwith al closed tank, fofua series of cross-frames arranged in said tank at intervals apart, plates or slabs ofthemetal to be relined inclosed withinl said trames, apertures arranged in the alternate ends of said frames, an'anode-plate and outlet-pipe in one end of thetank, a cathode-plate and inletpipe at the otherV end of the tank, and an electric circuitconnected at its terminals to said/anode'and cathode plates, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signedmy name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing' witnesses, this 19th day of June, A. D. 1896.

JOllN OLIVER SURTEES ELMQRE.

Witnesses i I. FAIRWEATHER, KANMAR BALBEERSINGH. 

